A rant about rules of the road - Germany

So, I had a little interaction, a so-called 'Tcherman' moment last night while driving close to home. The road had a long line of cars parked on MY SIDE, probably about 300 m. There was enough room for cars to pass side by side in both directions, anyway, if the car coming in the other direction moved over a little.

So, I arrived at these parked cars at least 5 sec. before the guy coming in the other direction reached them. So I went. He could see I was a good 3rd of the way along when he also pulled out. I stayed to the right, as there was nowhere to pull in, and he just kept driving down the middle of the road. I could see by this point that it was a big mercedes, so I decided to give him a bit of a scare by not stopping until the last moment. This did not make my gfrd. very happy, as you can imagine...

Well, anyway, as he was pulling by (he finally moved over a bit, which is all I expected in the first place), I rolled down my window, and he rolled down his. So he started with his parked car regel scheiss, and the fact that the cars were on my side, so I had to wait. I told him that I am sure he is a very wichtiger man, but he could also move over a little himself... Apparently, according to my pssd off gfrd, it does not matter that you have started along the road well before the person in the other direction has even reached the parked cars from his direction. If this is true, it is stupid, because it means the person with the parked cars on his or her side could wait for several minutes if the cars coming in the other direction are coming at a reasonably regular frequency (which they often do on this road). And this knob was just being a knob by not moving over a bit so that we could both just get on with it. These f**king Regenfolgers really get on my tits sometimes.

Ahhhh, that feels better now, thx...

sounds to me like you went head to head with a typical Herman who has no fuckin' clue about driving... I have that every day with wankers on my commute to work. Gits, hate them

Could you see him coming before you started to overtake the parked cars? If so you should have stopped to let him through. If you couldn't see him then you can keep going, he cannot expect you to reverse. However if there was a space in amongst the parked cars you should pull in to that and let him pass. It's a system that works well if everybody follows the rule, the "I got here first so I have right of way" is a hopeless system.

Exactly. Sounds like both drivers were a bit too pigheaded for their own good...

And what on earth is a "rain follower"?

Wait a minute you said he turned in to the road.If you on a major road you have right of way, then if he saw that you were already proceeding then he should have waited.How the fuck does he expect you to see past parked cars?Anyway an East German wi a Merc might have been nicked

if the obstruction (in this case parked cars) is on your side of the road aren't you supposed to give way?

Your girlfriend is absolutely wrong. It does matter and goes by line of sight. Just like the red and white arrows at road narrowing spots. This is a big problem right near where I live and too many asswipes seem to think like your gf does (not to mention they are usually going way over the 30kmh limit and there is a curve to boot). I have stopped right in front of them and discussed the finer points of the law with them on many an occasion. I refuse to stop my car and back up 50m because they seem to think that is what I should do regardless of the law. Of course they chalk it up to me being a stupid foreigner until I put on my volunteer fire department jacket and say what is that about being a stupid foreigner you prick? Suddenly, their tune changes to a respectful one as they grumble under their breath.

No she's not, if he could see the other car then he should have stopped, getting there first does not give you right of way, unless you cannot see any oncoming traffic

I would have stopped and waited if it was me considering it was 5 seconds

Nobody expects you to back out of narrowing spots, but the OT said that he "arrived at these parked cars at least 5 sec. before the guy coming in the other direction reached them" - so he could see the other car coming up and should have stopped to let the other car pass.

Doesn't sound like a problem of nationality or driving rules, btw, but like a problem of testosterone levels...

Nice partial quoting function you got going on there.

isn't it tiring to be in almost a permanent rage? whether it be with Brits, German, republics or Clinton supporters

I agree with BR.
if someone 'road-rages' me I just smile/wave/laugh/turn up my choons.
s'not worth it, just drive on and forget about it.

maybe its a British thing, the roads are so narrow there and full of cars that you have to show a bit of consideration and forethought - not that the island isn't full of road rage too of course

You should sit on the corner near where I live. It is a minute by minute occurrence. I will rent you chairs and sell you popcorn and take your bets on the wrecks, the near wrecks and the reactions of the drivers.

Your girlfriend is correct (if you are not going uphill). As the obstruction is on your side of the road the car coming from the opposite direction has right of way. Makes perfect sense to me.

You must follow the rules at all times, even if that means blocking traffic, getting stuck in the middle of intersections, making other cars back up, etc.

Remember, Germany is a rules based society. Driving is a test of right of way, not an exercise in getting from point A to B.

Driving considerately? Never

but it doesn't matter who was there first or where the parked cars were - there was room for boths cars to pass anyway
so there's no issue here at all - just flim flam

I can add though that what does annoy me on such roads is when people park and leave the car wheels at an angle of 45-90 degrees to the direction of the road, thus meaning you cant squeeze past

If you had bothered to read what the OP wrote you would have seen that his girlfriend said:"Apparently, according to my pssd off gfrd, it does not matter that you have started along the road well before the person in the other direction has even reached the parked cars from his direction." Nothing to do with whether he was in sight or not. Christ you even quoted it, yet somehow she is absolutely wrong. She wasn't wrong, he should have stopped.

Germans always know exactly who has right of way: THEY DO!

If you drive so should you. It's quite important to know the rules of the road, especially if they are different to your homeland.

Although in this specific instance is not only a German rule. It also applies to the UK:
"give way to oncoming vehicles before passing parked vehicles or other obstructions on your side of the road"
Source: Rule 139 from Highway Code Driving Test theory

Maybe the roads are so wide in Canada that they do not need this rule or they are too busy trying to avoid the parked moose(s)

Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
OP should have waited, seeing as his side of the road was obstructed (I lived around two such streets for 10 years and must have spent a month altogether waiting for oncoming cars to stop).
German should have stayed where he was, fuming, and rolled down the window when OP drove past, giving him a piece of his mind (presuming he could spare it).
@ OP - Next time, wait on your obstructed side, flash your lights at German, he will breeze down the street and even possibly acknowledge your politeness and consideration with a jovial wave of the hand. If not, calling him an Arschkeks in the confined area of your own car is permissible.

There are two components to the line of sight rule for the op:
1) Could he see the other car coming when overtaking the obstacle?
2) Could he clear the obstacle before the other car arrived to the obstacle at the posted speed limit?

In regards to number 1, it is not a race to be first.
In regards to number 2, this is a bit more difficult to judge and especially so since most "other" cars are speeding trying to make it into a race in defiance of number 1 and the law.

I read the op as the other guy pulled out in defiance of the op's position concerning the obstacle. If that is not the case, then I stand to be corrected on the gf's interpretation.

Nice theory, no Herman would ever, ever wait


See above, but otherwise agree.


No Herman would even think about saying 'thanks' after you give way to them, they are rude as fuck.

@ sickboy - Having been driving in Germany for nigh on to 23 years now I don't hate to tell you that you are pretty far off in your opinion on German drivers in general. Not knowing your specific experiences you are entitled to cherish the memories.

I find the opposite to be true. There might be the odd occasion when they have not said thanks, but it does not bother me if they don't - more important things in life to get wound up about.

I disagree, as Helles Angel says, Germans know who has right of way,although I don't think he meant it in a good way, and generally obey it. As for waving thanks, yes, that's pretty rare, but not unknown.

Sara, Jay,

I have been sales repping in Germany for 6 years, and find their driving in towns and cities appalling, which is surprising because I find that their driving etiquette on Autobahns to be far superior to that of the UK.

The number of times you signal to pull into another lane and the guy behind accelerates to close the gap to stop you, or the way they tailgate you to push you through lights that are turning amber, the way that they often signal late or not at all... did I mention the racing for red lights?? I am a good driver (UK advanced, with no points in UK, 3 here), but my commute to the office is hell...

PS, Love it in Germany, and don't hate Germans, don't even hate BMW drivers...

i parked the missus' car in a street nearby our flat about 4 months ago. normal street when i parked it. came back 4 days later and due to extensive roadworks, the street was now a one way street. problem was i was parked pointed the wrong way down the one way street. i could not turn around and get down the street the right way. there wasnt the space to turn around (an already small street less that half the size it used to be, with a long line of cars waiting to pull out onto landsbergerstrasse)

so i waited until it was relatively safe and then drove the wrong way down the one way street with my warning lights on. most people saw what my problem was. but a late comer to the queue of cars going in the right direction didnt see what was going on. he started waving and shouting and beeping his horn. i rolled down my window and explained what was wrong and he said "oh fair enough" and moved back a bit to let me turn around and point myself in the right direction.

follow the rules. then apply common sense.

You were wrong and he was right. Don't start a manouevre you can't complete. This isn't just a 'German thing'.

Tis a fact that you were wrong , where I live is full of little parked up streets and we all just drive on the pavement no one complains or comments so I guess he was just one of these “regenfolgers” as you put it,however I don’t know if you knew this but apparently when you buy a Mercedes you automatically have right of way anyway so you were wrong twice

I find the same applicable to the US. US drivers are horrible on the highways and byways, but in the city (not New York, but similar layout to Munich) they are far more congenial and polite than those here in Germany. However in the 10 years I have been here, I have noticed a steady decline in driver etiquette both in the cities and on the autobahn. The worst habit that has substantially increased is that of exiting the autobahn only to get right back on and in the process passing a line of cars. All they do is add to the vicious cycle that feeds the problem. It is the same mentality that feeds the line jumping craze of me first and screw politeness in the process.

Jesus, how many times has the word "herman" been used on this thread! You racist bastards make me sick! I only found this thread whilst searching on the internet, and I'm disgusted! You fucking racist expat bigotted bastards assuming that somebody must be bad at driving simply because they're a krout herman!

I'm leaving this disgusting racist place, and never coming back!

I still find compared to the UK that the autobahns are generally good, but the queue skipping is a real pisser, but to be honest I am never in that much of a hurry to worry about it.
Actually for me I am at the point of being paranoid about city driving, I generally drive to the speed limits, especially in 30 zones (that is where I picked up my 3 points), but I have been rear ended 3 times in the last 5 years, once I stopped for an ambulance and some dickhead thought he could overtake me, misjudged it and hit me, second and third times happened when I stopped for amber lights, one time I was hit hard enough to set off an airbag...

I may not have been driving for 23 years, but if you drive 10 km to work and back, lucky you, but that is alot different to 60k km per year that I do

hmm, pot, kettle.. ring any bells?

Did the OP and the Merc driver get out to compare their penis length too?

Why stress yourself? One - it is technicaly his right of way. Two - if your not stopped and something happens you also have to pay the insurance. And Three - I agree with BR for once, wait the five seconds stroke your girlfriends inner thigh and just chill.

Just to add (rant, pt. zwei), it may be that that it is the rule, but it is contradictory to common sense in some scenarios, as in the situation I described. If there are 300m of parked cars, it takes about 10 sec to clear them from a dead start. If cars are coming more frequently than at 10 sec intervals, then you will NEVER get through. This particular issue was made even worse by the fact that if the driver had moved over a little more onto the sidewalk area (its even with the road), we could have both gotten through no problem. But he had to remain in the middle of the road so that I either had to pull over, or we were going no where. Because he had ze recht. By Pareto efficiency, him moving over would have made me better off, without making him any worse off (other than having to relax his regenfolger attitude).

I had another woman on the weekend riding her bike side by side on a bike path with her friend, blocking the way at 10 km/h. I came up behind her, made a whistling sound to get past (no bell on my carbon fibre racing bike, sorry), and she had to say, 'Sie haben kein Klingel!'. If I had ridden on the road, so as to avoid constantly having to avoid the bike path tottlers, who break my pace every time I have to slow down to almost a stand still until they get their asses out of the way (klingel or no klingel), I would have been honked at by the drivers, even if the road was completely deserted. Regenfolgers, all of them!

btw, sorry about the typo, I meant Regelfolgers. But I can see the nickpicker types would pick up on that kind of thing and run with it!

PS It is not a 5 sec wait, because he had 5 min to reach the other end of the 300 m of cars, so it is more like 15 sec... and if another car appears during this time, it is another 15 secs... is it when he is juuuuuuuuuust appearing in the distance, or so that I can be sure that I have cleared the cars before he gets there, or what? How are you going to judge that? Stupid rule, sorry. But chilling would be a good idea... not going to change anyones mind on the road or on this blog, for that matter!

So what's the rule for a (narrow) street where both sides are fully parked and two cars come towards each other?

Maybe that's why he's so stressed out?

A shootout.

@MB gah it's like that where we live...
whoever is nearest a 'gap' pulls over. seems to work ok usually...though you do get the odd tiny-penised individual in a big car who makes his own rules up.

*evil grin*

§ 64a StVZO Einrichtungen für Schallzeichen
Fahrräder und Schlitten müssen mit mindestens einer helltönenden Glocke ausgerüstet sein

ahhhhhhhhhh, you--------have----------- become---------------a-----------------regenfolger (said a-la-Cpt. Kirk when he discovered the Tribbles had infested his ship).

btw, I was driving the SMALL car...

Quite simple: fifo first in first out

In some areas of Germany:

1. Mercedes
2. BMW
3. Audi
4. VW
5. Italian cars
6. French prams
7. Asian rice bowls

hey bob, I'm with you on this but you are a git for having a cool carbon bike ;-)

Germans love to break rules, when they are sure they can get away with it, believe me.
But of course they all pretend to be Regelfolger when they catch someone else braking a rule.

Unlike everybody else...

And that'd be Regelbefolger. Just to be real anal about it.

gotta tell you, its schweeeeet... shame to put a bell on it... but I think I will have to, because they are slowly breaking me, the regenbefolgers :-), like a wild stallion being tamed...